featuring guest authors; crafting tips and projects; recipes from food editor and sleuthing sidekick Cloris McWerther; and decorating, travel, fashion, health, beauty, and finance tips from the rest of the American Woman editors.

Monday, July 11, 2016

FAVORITES, FAILURES & FRUSTRATIONS--#ZUCCHINI FAIL

Lois Winston, Anastasia’s creator, stepping in today to talk about
one of my failures. I’ve never been a great gardener. Instead of having green
thumbs, mine are red. I say red because if you look at a color wheel, you’ll
see that red is the opposite of green.

In my defense, I’m was born and bred a
city girl and have never quite adapted to suburban life, no matter how much I’ve
tried. And believe me, when it comes to gardening, I’ve tried…and tried…and
tried. And usually failed.

However, one thing I have had success growing in the
past is zucchini. Even I couldn’t kill that stalwart squash and have spent many
summers with bumper crops from a single plant—until the last several years when even
the zucchini decided to rebel against my efforts.

This year I decided to plant in a different sunny
spot in my backyard, thinking maybe location was the problem, even though I'd rotate crops within my small gardening plot. The zucchini gods must have thought that was funny
because after two months in the ground my poor zucchini plant has yet to produce a
single new leaf, let alone any flowers. It’s exactly the same size it was when
I bought it. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was a plastic plant!

I am bowing to the inevitable. We can't all succeed at everything we try, no matter how much we'd like to. So my fresh
zucchini this year is coming courtesy of the local farmer’s market that sets up
at the train station every Saturday morning.

Newsletter

Keep up with Lois and Anastasia by subscribing to author Lois Winston's newsletter where you'll find special features, contests, and giveaways available only to subscribers.

SCRAPBOOK OF MURDER

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 6

SLEUTHING WOMEN II: 10 MYSTERY NOVELLAS

LITERALLY DEAD: an Empty Nest Mystery, Book 2

SLEUTHING WOMEN: 10 FIRST-IN-SERIES MYSTERIES

A collection of 10 full-length mysteries featuring murder and assorted mayhem, each the first book in an established multi-book series

A STITCH TO DIE FOR

Book 5 in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series

MOM SQUAD: a Shadow Ops Novella

WE'D RATHER BE WRITING

BAKE, LOVE, WRITE

DEFINITELY DEAD

An Empty Nest Mystery, Book 1

CRAFTY CRIMES

a Trio of Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mysteries

PATCHWORK PERIL

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery

DECOUPAGE CAN BE DEADLY

MOSAIC MAYHEM

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery

REVENGE OF THE CRAFTY CORPSE

CREWEL INTENTIONS

an Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery

DEATH BY KILLER MOP DOLL

ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN

THE ANASTASIA POLLACK CRAFTING MYSTERIES

Read about Anastasia in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery seriesby Lois Winston. Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Kirkus Reviews called it "North Jersey's more mature answer to Stephanie Plum." Assault With a Deadly Glue Gunwas also a Book of the Year Award nominee from ForeWord Reviews, a Daphne du Maurier Award finalist, and a Readers Choice Award nominee from the Salt Lake City Library System. Other books in the series include Death by Killer Mop Doll, Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, Decoupage Can Be Deadly, A Stitch to Die For, and Scrapbook of Murder, plus three mini-mysteries: Crewel Intentions,Mosaic Mayhem, and Patchwork Peril. Look for more of Anastasia's adventures coming in the future.

About Me

I'm the crafts editor at American Woman magazine; the single parent of two teenage boys and a Shakespeare quoting parrot; caretaker to a semi-invalid, communist mother-in-law from Hell and her demon dog; daughter to a multi-married descendant of the Czars (supposedly); reluctant cat-sitter to Mama's extremely corpulent white Persian cat; a born Jersey girl; and star of my own amateur sleuth mystery series.